Comparative Analysis of Microbial Communities in Fronds and Roots of Three Duckweed Species: Spirodela polyrhiza, Lemna minor, and Lemna aequinoctialis.

The microbial communities inhabiting the fronds of duckweeds have not been investigated in as much detail as those on the roots. We herein examined the microbial communities in three duckweed species using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and compared them to those on the roots. The microbial compositions of the fronds were distinct from those of the roots in the three species. Various types of taxonomic bacteria, including rarely cultivated phyla, Acidobacteria, Armatimonadetes, and Verrucomicrobia, were also isolated from the fronds, but at a slightly lower abundance than those from the roots. These results suggest that duckweed fronds are an alternative source for isolating rare and novel microbes, which may otherwise be recalcitrant to cultivation using conventional strategies.